SPORTSCARS DESTINED FOR GREATNESS

Issue Forty Two

In This Issue

Porsche 918 Spyder – The 918 Spyder represents the dawn of a new era in high performance cars, alongside the McLaren P1 & Ferrari LaFerrari.Lotus Elise S Cup – Limited run model that takes the best of the Elise and S2 Exige platform and improves it further.Mercedes-Benz C63 AMG – The large capacity, normally aspirated AMG engine is a masterpiece and sounds epic.Stile Ducati Book Review – The year 2016 marked the 90th anniversary of the most iconic motorbike manufacturer, Ducati. The italian bike maker has captivated riders and non riders alike for the best part of a century.The New Widowmaker Porsche 911 GT2 RS – The fastest and most powerful road-approved 911 has just broken cover: The new Porsche 911 GT2 RS was unveiled at the Goodwood Festival of Speed.Print book from PDF

Note from the Editor

This month we have picked an eclectic mix of cars from Germany and the UK. The first car that has been recently added to our buylist is the Series 3 Lotus Elise S Cup. This was produced in both 220 bhp and 250 bhp versions. For many it is the spiritual successor to the Series 2 Exige. The newer Exige moved the goalposts when Lotus fitted a supercharged V6 and bigger bodywork to go after the Porsche Cayman and other luxury sportscars. The Series 3 Elise, particularly the S Cup models represent the best of the Brand, in time it will be accepted as one of the all time greats too. The performance on track is right up there with supercars that boast over double the power of the S Cup. Our owner Dave is a diehard Lotus fan, but also appreciates sportscars from all stables and he has yet to find another brand that gets the heart racing on the road and track for the money that Lotus do. His writeup makes an insightful read.

The second car in our lineup this month is the Porsche 918 Spyder. This car was much anticipated because it was one of three that marked a new era in supercars, a segment was born, hypercars. These cars take the next generation of technology, combining both petrol and electric propulsion systems with energy recovery – straight out of Formula 1 and WEC. The 918 Spyder may have been the least popular and slowest to sell out of the three cars on offer from Porsche, McLaren and Ferrari, but I believe it is the most future proof. Porsche built the 918 Spyder with all the stringent quality assurance and testing endured by the whole Porsche range. As an ownership prospect this makes it the most reliable and useable. The drama of driving a twin electric motor, v8 petrol engined hypercar is described in detail by our anonymous contributor.

The third car is a great from AMG, the Mercedes-Benz C63 AMG. This car is designed to be practical yet insane. It is truly bi-polar. The styling is comically understated and yet all madness is shouted out to the world as soon as the ignition key is turned. It is a marvel, a total antithesis to the artificially efficient family car that people are encouraged to buy. I am encouraging you to buy a 6.2 litre monster while you still can!